one time when I was hyper

So if you were ever wondering what I (Nicole) am like when I'm hyper, I have a prime example for you here. My good friend Al has posted a video she took once of me back in my college days. I'm not saying you'll think it's as funny as we did at the time, but like I said: here I am absolutely hyper. Have fun. Thanks, Al!

the reason why I started this blog in the first place:

Look very closely!

Here's the Story:

Once I found out I was pregnant, I waited for a little bit before I called the doctor to set up an appointment because I had heard they don't really see you right away anyway. So I finally called into a doctor to set up an appointment, and they told me I had to have a "New to Nurse Interview" before I could make appointments, so they gave me the number to call for that. I soon discovered that the New to Nurse thing was really just a big orientation and the next one wasn't available for two and a half weeks. I got nervous because by then I'd be 11 weeks along, and I wouldn't even be seeing a doctor. They seemed to think that was fine, so I said okay.

Nick came with me to the orientation. It was a 2 hour long introduction to pregnancy and such, and I had already read most of what they covered, so that made me feel pretty smart. They took some blood, made an appointment with the doctor for the following week and then sent me on my way.

Nick also came to the first doctor's appointment. They had told me ahead of time that I would get a pelvic exam and would be able to hear the baby's heart beat, so I was half dread and half total excitement. When we were there the doctor started by asking us a lot of standard questions and then started talking about blood types. She asked Nick if he knew his, and he doesn't because the poor kid has a hard time giving blood. In fact I could tell that he was getting a little queasy just talking about it. I love Nick.

So after a bit she told me to get undressed and put on the little napkin dress they give you and that she'd be back in. I did so. Then she comes in and pulls out this big machine and I got a little nervous. I asked what it was, wondering if they had changed the procedure from the last time I had a pelvic exam. She said, "Oh, this is an ultrasound." I was really excited because I thought we'd just get to hear the heartbeat. I looked over at Nick and the poor, poor boy was just completely green. Evidently he hadn't forgotten our previous conversation. So I stopped the doctor and asked him if he was going to be okay or if he needed something to eat -- I didn't want him to miss the ultrasound. Nick was really honest, as he usually is when he gets queasy, and said he did need something to eat. The doctor ran out and came back with some banana bread and a huge mug of water.

Nick got to munching.

She started with the ultrasound.

She pulled the screen toward herself at first and was fiddling around, I assumed to make sure everything was okay. Then she finally turned the screen toward me and was moving around and I couldn't see a thing that looked like a baby. Then she exclaims and says loudly "There's not one baby in here!" So all I hear is "there's not a baby in here - my worst fears confirmed." Then she points to the screen and I see these two blobs and I'm thinking, "what a horrible way to tell someone they've lost their baby..." and then she says "There's TWO!" Then I could see the little floppers doing their thing. The one on the bottom was flopping against the wall behind it and the one above was all over the place.

It was so surreal. I think I said, "Oh my goodness! This is nuts!" among other things. I looked over at Nick and he was sitting there with the banana bread frozen halfway to his mouth. He had much better color though. It was really fun to see, and I've secretly always wanted twins. I think it's so crazy though. It doesn't run in my family or Nick's. My brother also randomly had triplets with his wife, and it doesn't run in her family either! What are the odds?

We don't know the gender yet, or if they are identical, but we'll find that out on January 14th at 9:00am. I can't wait.

We feel really blessed. Please keep us in your prayers!

Shamless self-promotion

Nick speaking:  I used to make a habit of promoting myself and my music back in high school and undergrad.  I tried so hard to find little coffee shops in which to play my guitar music.  Once I discovered the realization of rock star was not in the cards, I decided to stop that silly game.  Don't get me wrong, it is still very fun to play.  I get a great deal more pleasure out of learning somebody else's songs than I used to, but there's still a minute here and a minute there that I get the motivation to write something new.  When I do, I pursue it aggressively and usually end up recording it.  When those recordings come to fruition, I post them on my old, but fully functional, website.  Here is the link www.nickempey.da.ru (I've permalinked that to the sidebar).  There are a couple random pictures (that I don't update), downlodable versions of all the songs I've ever recorded, and lyrics to all songs written by me and/or my collaborators.  So far, I'm recognized in 3 continents and 4 countries of which I'm aware, which is kind of fun.

Here's another link I though was cool:  Say thanks to our servicemen.

Happy Gravy Day!

from Nicole: Gravy Day is also known as Turkey Day to some, but it all depends on where you place your emphasis on Thanksgiving. I myself could feel satisfied by a Thanksgiving with no turkey but would be horrified and mystified by a Thanksgiving with no gravy.

Anyway, my parents came to stay for the holiday and we had fun. Here are some pictures:





Here's my mom really happily sitting at the dinner table, and my dad reading Harry Potter at my craft desk. Aren't these kids so cute?





Notice how my parents wear bright colors, I really enjoy that. My parents made all the food and I was responsible for the mashed potatoes because they are my staple. I was kind of surprised that they trusted me though. I guess I am in my mid-twenties. I should know how to boil stuff and add butter.










One of my favorite nights while they were here we played a friendly game of Clue and Nick stomped on us. I was okay though, because mom had made pie and it was sitting right in front of me. I was Miss Scarlet, and in this shot I am in the Study with Professor Plum and no weapon but my killer looks. Turns out neither of us were guilty.



Mom and I got a little crafty one night making these super cute fabric birds that I found online. Check out the pattern here. It's free! It's from the blog "Spool." We were making Christmas-y birds, but these would be totally great for a nursery or kid's room or just general coolness about the house.











Nick speaking: Thanksgiving was the best of times, and definitely not the worst of times. Free range turkeys (none of that fake stuff), and gravy ahoy! I say, my good man, that it was quite possibly the best delight since turkish delight...or rapper's delight. Candied yams were aflutter the spread. Do you know the times?

Nicole: I love it when Nick posts.

Chase Saying His "F" Sounds

Hi. I am Nicole's sister-in-law Sarah. This is a video of Nicole's nephew Chase. It happens to be one of her favorites so she would like to share it with all of her friends. He is practising his "f" sounds with Nicole's brother Bill. Chase's brother Bryant gets in on the action a little as well. Hope you enjoy it as much as Nicole has.

In honor of my good friend Alison.

Al is a nice girl. She likes being crafty, cooking chicken pot pie with no chicken, watching movies, sleeping in, and being cool all the time. She loves Twilight and Edward, and that's no lie. So in honor of her happy evening headed out to see the midnight release of Twilight, I turned her into a vampire. Here it is Al, this is for you:

Alison as a nice girl: (with a really sultry look on her face...)

Alison as vampire

Have fun tonight Al. I wish I could be there to see you see it! Breathe for me, okay.

one of my new favorite recipes:

Back when I was young and dependent I would randomly and authoritatively declare that when I was older and independent I was going to make just the gravy and mashed potatoes the full meal. Nothing else. No greedy meats getting in the way of the goods. Mom would always say "Well you do that Nicole, but for tonight, eat your chicken"... or pork, or whatever greedy meat was in the way.

And then when I was all old and independent (married) I did fix just gravy and mashed potatoes for dinner. I told Nick the story and he seemed to be okay with just the mashed potatoes. (And sometimes he would only eat the potatoes and I was sitting there thinking "what is this crazy doing? doesn't he realize we're having gravy and mashed potatoes? he's leaving out the whole main dish!") I asked him a lot if he was okay with just the potatoes and he's really easy going and he always said yes, but secretly I wondered if he really wanted more.

Then I came across this recipe in Cooking Light and was instantly drawn to the gravy oozing over the picture. I tried it out for Nick's sake and fell in love. I can make gravy from scratch now and I feel so empowered. It might be what I've always wanted to be able to do. Anyway, here is one of my new favorite recipes. And I even like the meat! The recipe does not say to make mashed potatoes, so you have to remember to do that on your own.

Pork Chops with Country Gravy:

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 chop and 1/2 cup gravy)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (about 1 ounce)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
• 4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops (about 3/4 inch thick)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Cooking spray
• 1 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk

Preparation

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour, salt, dried marjoram, dried thyme, and dried rubbed sage in a shallow dish. Dredge pork in flour mixture, turning to coat; shake off excess. Reserve remaining flour mixture.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add pork to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Reduce heat, and cook for 10 minutes or until done, turning pork once. Remove pork from pan; keep warm.

Combine reserved flour mixture and milk in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until blended. Add milk mixture to pan; place over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Reduce heat, and simmer 2 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Serve with chops.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 252 (34% from fat)

Fat: 9.6g (sat 4.4g,mono 3.6g,poly 0.8g)

Protein: 28.9g

Carbohydrate: 10.6g

Fiber: 0.3g

Cholesterol: 83mg

Iron: 1.5mg

Sodium: 584mg

Calcium: 142mg

Lorrie Hulston Corvin, Cooking Light, JUNE 2006

Atlas Shrugged Update

I'm on page 655 and I still don't know who John Galt is. I have my suspicions however. My favorite quotes/ideas from the book so far:

" ...achievement [is] the greatest gift a human being could offer to others."

and this exchange:

Dagny: "Hank, this is great." (speaking of something he created)
Hank: "Yes."
He said it simply, openly. There was no flattered pleasure in his voice, and no modesty. This, she knew, was a tribute to her, the rarest one person could pay another: the tribute of feeling free to acknowledge one's own greatness, knowing that it is understood.

Who is John Galt?

Nicole speaking: I recently joined a book club and next up on our list is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

My friend sent us all an email announcing our choice and included this quote from Wikipedia:

“….at approximately 645,000 words, the book is one of the longest novels ever written in any European language.”

Yeah, and my copy weighs about ten pounds, so I'm also getting a work out every time I read. Right now I'm on page 71 with 1097 pages to go.

Feel free to join in the fun and take up the challenge with me. I'm always up for a good book discussion.

pumpakins thru the ages.

Nicole speaking: Every year since 2005 I've carved Pumpakins with my boo, Nick. Let's take a look:

October 2005
Nicole: Super Noodle
and
Nick: Smitten Grin

October 2006
Nicole: Cat
and
Nick: Love

October 2007
Nicole: Holy Pumpakin (Nick called it Disco Pumpkin)
and
Nick: Stick Cat/ Space Worm (it's double sided)

October 2008
Nick and Nicole: The Birthday Monkey takes over Halloween

Nick Speaking: Thus we see that the longevity of relationships is directly proportional to the number of pumpkins carved per person per Halloween squared.

our first post ever

Nick and I are on two different computers working on our new blog. It's interesting, but coming together rather well. I keep moving things, he keeps adding things -- sooner or later it will be just right.